Handshaking lemma
In graph theory, a branch of mathematics, the handshaking lemma is the statement that, in every finite undirected graph, the number of vertices that touch an odd number of edges is even. In more colloquial terms, in a party of people some of whom shake hands, the number of people who shake an odd number of other people's hands is even. The handshaking lemma is a consequence of the degree sum formula, also sometimes called the handshaking lemma, according to which the sum of the degrees (the numbers of times each vertex is touched) equals twice the number of edges in the graph. Both results were proven by Leonhard Euler in his famous paper on the Seven Bridges of Königsberg that began the study of graph theory. Beyond the Bridges of Königsberg and their generalization to Euler tours, other applications include proving that for certain combinatorial structures, the number of structures is always even, and assisting with the proofs of Sperner's lemma and the mountain climbing problem. The complexity class PPA encapsulates the difficulty of finding a second odd vertex, given one such vertex in a large implicitly-defined graph. (Wikipedia).
